Vodka or sugar?

[Blackhawk Fan]

I haven't really followed the whole VSV dosing much, but recently tried reef Biofuel from Brightwell. I'd like to keep the carbon dosing up but at a little cheaper price. ;)

Is vodka better then sugar or does it even matter?

 

[gilmour01]

i prefer vodka. its easier, and i've heard of people having issues dosing sugar. to be fair i've never tried sugar myself b/c vodka has always worked well for me. if it aint broke.....

40% vodka add 0.1ml per 25g to start and double the dose every 3 days until nitrate and phosphate drop. once there, you can cut back and find a nice maintenance dose.

 

[roshi719]

I think the main key honestly is to make sure the good bacteria are in the system at high enough levels so that whatever carbon source you use feeds them first and not things like cyanobacteria or other nuisance bacterias.

 

[Blackhawk Fan]

Thanks for the response guys. Any sugar dosers in the house for their take?

 

[stunreefer]

Dose both... or you could use Prodibio Bioptim once a week and be done with it ;)

 

[Blackhawk Fan]

Dose both... or you could use Prodibio Bioptim once a week and be done with it ;)

I was looking to save money. I can get a lot of sugar and vodka for a C note. :tongue:

 

[cveverly]

I used to dose vodka and also tried sugar. I got a bloom (bacteria?) that clouded the water column when using sugar. Vodka worked well but I am using a liquid form of vitamin C now. No idea which one is better.

 

[Reef Pets]

Neither on. Coral grow awesome in the ocean and no one is dumping sugar or Vodka in it by the truck load. With the exception of a couple party boats....
Natural vitamins and elemants that are found in the ocean is the way to go.

 

[stunreefer]

Neither on. Coral grow awesome in the ocean and no one is dumping sugar or Vodka in it by the truck load. With the exception of a couple party boats....
Natural vitamins and elemants that are found in the ocean is the way to go.

Our tanks are nothing like the ocean...

The ocean has one heck of a biological filtration system that we could never replicate in captivity.

Probiotic systems do work, and VERY effectively. Refugiums (with algae) do work and VERY effectively. Water changes do work and VERY effectively. Protein skimmers do work and VERY effectively... etc., etc.

There are many ways to skin a cat, choose your poison, or poisons, but there's no reason to bash any means of filtration, unless it actually doesn't work... like Marc Weiss products for example.


If your interested in running a probiotic system (bacterial driven) you should understand them from A-Z along with the Nitrogen cycle in general... there's no one way to dose a carbon source that's better assuming you don't overdose or the like. If you don't want to research and fully understand how and what you're effecting, run a refugium with chaetomorph and call it day. For me a probiotic system is less equipment, no excess algae build up in my sump, no need to prune chaeto, my list goes on...

 

[Blackhawk Fan]

stunreefer, I don't recall reading that a refugium was no longer necessary. Will the chaeto eventually die off if you run a probiotic system?

 

[gilmour01]

if your nutrients get low enough, the chaeto could start to die off. i still have chaeto in my fuge, but it doesnt grow as fast as it did before the vodka and microbacter dosing.

 

[Reef Pets]

By reading my post, I am not sure where you gathered that I mentioned filtration or bashed anything at all. I gave my opinion on adding alcohol beverages and sweeteners to a reef tank.
I disagree that out tanks are nothing like the ocean.... Yes, the ocean has one heck of a filtration system. But, on the other hand our reef tanks are slightly smaller than the ocean. When done in a ratio of water volume many reef tanks probably have just as good of a filtration ststem. You will notice that those tanks are extremely successful.
The ocean, just like our reef tanks are all individual eco-systems. This is the reason that one thing may work for one reefer and not for another. One way or the other they are a little different. Being that the ocean has the best results, trying to replicate it makes since to me.

I am not trying to argue anything.... The question was ask and I gave my honest opinion just as you stated your opinion on Marc Weiss's products.
Gary

Our tanks are nothing like the ocean...

The ocean has one heck of a biological filtration system that we could never replicate in captivity.

Probiotic systems do work, and VERY effectively. Refugiums (with algae) do work and VERY effectively. Water changes do work and VERY effectively. Protein skimmers do work and VERY effectively... etc., etc.

There are many ways to skin a cat, choose your poison, or poisons, but there's no reason to bash any means of filtration, unless it actually doesn't work... like Marc Weiss products for example.


If your interested in running a probiotic system (bacterial driven) you should understand them from A-Z along with the Nitrogen cycle in general... there's no one way to dose a carbon source that's better assuming you don't overdose or the like. If you don't want to research and fully understand how and what you're effecting, run a refugium with chaetomorph and call it day. For me a probiotic system is less equipment, no excess algae build up in my sump, no need to prune chaeto, my list goes on...

 

[jaytizzle]

If your interested in running a probiotic system (bacterial driven) you should understand them from A-Z along with the Nitrogen cycle in general... there's no one way to dose a carbon source that's better assuming you don't overdose or the like. If you don't want to research and fully understand how and what you're effecting, run a refugium with chaetomorph and call it day. For me a probiotic system is less equipment, no excess algae build up in my sump, no need to prune chaeto, my list goes on...

Absolutely! I dose ZEOvit and took a long time to understand it and ask a lot of questions before I jumped in. I still don't understand all of the additives (but I'm not sure that ANYONE does... lol) but it is a very good system that is fairly easy to understand if you are willing to take the time. I have seen nothing but good things so far with my experience too.

 

[stunreefer]

Gary, sorry if my post came off too direct ro offensive, no harm intended at all man!

When I mentioned "no reason to bash any means of filtration" I honestly wasn't even implying that you were... I just see many people do it so often regarding probiotic systems it drives me nuts! I've ran systems in every way imaginable (fuges, scrubbers, only water changes, HOB filtration, you name it!) over the years, and for me a probiotic system is the easiest and most effective means of doing so.

By feeding a carbon source we're putting our bacteria on steroids and having them work over time, which indeed happens in certain zones of the ocean. However there is just so many differneces regarding aerobic and aenerobic zones (and the thousands of feet it happens in rather than inches), etc., etc. Depending how you look at it our tanks are very like, and very unlike the oceans - we just are looking at it through different windows :nerd:

I should've used an alternative analogy to Marc too (which was more a fact than opinon though), he just really T-eed me off with the BS he was putting out... the "ECO-Aqualizer" would've been better...

stunreefer, I don't recall reading that a refugium was no longer necessary. Will the chaeto eventually die off if you run a probiotic system?

First it will stop growing as gilmour mentioned, then it will die. When it dies it re-releases (bad) nutrients back into your water. A bacterial driven system will reduce them enough on your own. Now if you want to keep a refugium for pod production and such, there's absolutely nothing wrong with that, but I would recommend pulling outt he algae.